High-level and private-sector bilateral meetings took place in August between countries of the Pacific Alliance (PA) and the MERCOSUR to foster links between the two blocs.
- As part of Chilean president Michelle Bachelet’s official visit (in Spanish) to Paraguay, the two governments signed a memorandum of understanding to promote energy trade between their countries, with a focus on electric power. Likewise, they agreed to make Paraguay’s bonded warehouse and free trade zone in Antofagasta operational, based on an agreement signed in 1968.
- Chilean and Brazilian authorities also held a meeting to negotiate a bilateral Cooperation and Investment Facilitation Agreement (in Spanish). The delegation was headed by Chile’s Director of Multilateral Economic Affairs and the director of Brazilian Foreign Ministry’s Department for Financial Affairs and Services.
- Twenty Chilean companies undertook a trade mission to Montevideo, Uruguay, organized by ProChile (in Spanish), which is part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in order to close business deals and enhance commercial relations between the two countries. The government officials who took part included Uruguay’s Director General for International Economic Affairs of Uruguay and Chile’s Director General of International Economic Relations. The trade relations between the two countries are governed by the Economic Complementarity Agreement between Chile and the MERCOSUR, ECA No. 35.
- A similar visit organized by Uruguay XXI (in Spanish) entailed Uruguayan businesspeople traveling to Lima, Peru, to explore business opportunities and deepen existing links. Currently, trade between the two countries is governed by the Economic Complementarity Agreement between Peru and the MERCOSUR, ECA No. 58.
- In addition, Chile’s foreign minister (in Spanish) argued in favor of deepening the relationship between the PA and the MERCOSUR by promoting the bioceanic corridors and fostering pragmatic understanding between the two blocs, without a need for the two to merge and while maintaining their independence from one another.